A Song of the Rising Sun
by Shining Anchor of the Night
Summary: An older squire and his younger knight, both members of the Golden Company, are preparing for yet another battle in the Disputed Lands. This battle will be bigger than any either have fought in before. The repercussions of this battle will be far beyond what anyone could have imagined. (Characters and some events on Planetos are fairly OOC & AU).
1. Chapter 1: Sunset

_A Song of the Rising Sun_

Chapter 1: Sunset

299A.C.

The Disputed Lands

The Young Man

The Sun set over a blood-red sky on the Disputed Lands today. The wind blew gently to the west, carrying with it a lightly sweet scent of grass and flowers almost in jest to the people on the plains. Tonight, the plains would run red with blood, as they have for longer than anyone can remember. People often think of the Doom as the Doom of just Valyria, but really it was all of Western Essos that was doomed that day. The Valyrians deserved what they got. They butchered half the continent afterall and hypocritically continued the barbaric slave trade they fought against in the Ghiscari Wars, but their children, now called the Free Cities, were safe and in-line. Now, the Free Cities just fight and betray each other to fight more. It's a load of nonsense and they should reorganize into kingdoms with boundaries that they respect, at least this is what the young man thought as he helped his friend don his armor today.

"Hey man, chill-out, we'll be fine!"

"Abe, you need ALL of your armor on before you should even begin talking like that."

"Well, I know, but you've never failed me. If you had, you'd probably be dead by now…"

The Younger Knight

Abe always thought highly of the young man. Despite what the other members of the company say, he always stuck by him for some reason. He saw him as having some sort of potential even though most of their other brothers in the company disagreed. Most called the young man fat and arrogant actually, just judging him on appearances and what they knew about his background. At times, the young man believed it. Abe thought differently.

One of the other leaders in their company, Rae, a lean young woman, more than lethal with a spear, with a past that haunts her as well, also saw this potential and encouraged Abe to look-out for the young man. So, after seeing the young man continue to do his work around the camp despite taking repeated insult and abuse from their brothers – and most of their few sisters – in the company, Abe took the young man under his wing and made sure to train him properly.

"Just think about all we've worked on together. Think about all the training we've done together over these past months. You've survived thus far even though most of our brothers doubted you would. You've even been improving, dramatically in fact."

"Abe, I know, and I can't thank you enough for it. I don't know why you've invested so much time in me, especially since I'm older than you. It's not usually the proper way to do this sort of stuff, training in arms and what have you."

"Fuck tradition! You're older than me, but I'm a better fighter than you, no offense."

"None taken."

"I WANT you to learn from me. You've already made so much progress! It's not that you're bad, it's just that you weren't learning the style you needed. You're not tall enough to really wield a halberd effectively like those fuckers you grew-up a prisoner of were trying to get you to do. You're not thin, nimble, and quick enough to dance with spears soaking in the blood of your enemies like Rae, or for that matter, some of your blood – Don't look at me like that! They might be shits, most of them at least, but at least you've met your family!"

Abe paused for a moment to catch his breath and collect his thoughts as the Sun continued to set. The young man had a rather complicated family history, one littered with violence and betrayal. Abe knew this from all the young man told him as they grew closer while they trained. The young man should have grown-up with a childhood better than most dream of. Instead, his father made a miscalculation by essentially trading him to be a hostage. Rather than bring his family closer together, this backfired and splintered his family like rays of sunlight being reflected through a glass prism.

Abe continued, "I knew you needed to learn how to fight like a traditional Westerosi knight, the way I fight. Your body is perfect for it though! Once we hardened it a bit to get some more muscle on you, your size wound-up being a great advantage for you! We still have a lot of work to do before you'll be good with a lance, you got to get over your nerves on the horses man, but you've made incredible progress with a longsword on the ground and with hand-to-hand combat! I've gotten out of your head those stupid thoughts of chivalry on the battlefield - because it's all bullshit when you're trying to just kill everything around you so you can live - and gotten you to fight creatively, to not be afraid of getting dirty and bloody in order to live though the fight."

The Young Man

Once again, the young man found himself at a loss for words. Here, in this ragtag military encampment on the other side of the world from where he was used to being, he was getting praise from an anointed knight about his fighting ability. If only they could see him now, his gaolers. Yes, technically speaking he was fostered by them, but when you're just put-down, treated as second-class, like you'd done some sort of unspeakable wrong that couldn't be forgiven, that's not fostering. Rather, that's gaoling. Fortunately, some members of that twisted family were actually quite nice to him. Some of the younger generation, the cousins not in line to inherit the lordship, were wicked nice to him actually. Whether they pitied him, saw potential in him, or both, they were kind to him throughout his captivity/fostering. They always had quiet words of comfort when the lord of the castle, one of his immediate family members, or one of the high ranking members of the household insulted or hit him. They were the ones that actually eventually helped him escape and get out here after his father publically named his younger brother as heir. They knew he couldn't stay anymore since the lord would probably treat him even worse, maybe even kill him.

For all the insults he'd endured while here in Essos with the company, he'd already been through worse. Besides, Abe had his back and he was getting better at fighting. Their daily drills were less exhausting by the day and he'd even managed to knock over Abe the other day during training! For that briefest of moments, he was proud of himself. Then, of course, Abe promptly snapped back to his feet quick as a whip and disarmed him in about half a second. For the rest of his days though, he could claim that, for just a moment, he had bested an anointed knight in a sparring session. That didn't matter though if they didn't make it out of this battle.

"Abe, I can never thank you enough for everything you've done for me, I really can't. You're my best friend. There! All set! You've got your armor, I've got mine. Maybe we'll be OK."

"No, we won't be OK, we'll win! We have to win after all. You've got your mom and sister to get to. I've got my own reasons to keep living, to keep fighting."

The young man always wondered what his young knight friend's reasons to keep fighting were. He had no family, at least he didn't think he did. He didn't have any home that depended on him to fight, and he wasn't fighting to one day rule anywhere. Whenever he asked, his friend always just said that his reasons were his own and that sharing them with him would put him in more danger than he could possibly imagine.

While in his own thoughts, trying desperately not to piss himself inside his armor like he sometimes did before battles, he heard the blasts of his company's horns calling everyone into battle. He had a feeling from the blood red sky as the Sun set that this was going to be different. He had this creeping thought that he would die today, but somehow he was OK with this. He knew that one way or another, everything would be OK, even with his death bizarrely enough. He didn't want his death, he'd been fretting about it just minutes ago with his friend Abe Dracarys, but he was unusually calm now that this battle was about to begin.

"Alright, time to saddle-up, my squire. We've got work to do."

"Yes, ser. The horses are ready, have been since last night."

"And THIS is why you're the most reliable squire in the Golden Company."


	2. Chapter 2: Something to Fight For

Chapter 2: Something to Fight For

The Young Man

The Sun was almost fully set and casting a blood-red light into the clouds, as if an indication of the carnage that was about to take place on these open plains of the Disputed Lands. Nonetheless, the young man was unusually calm as he listened to Captain-General Myles "Blackheart" Toyne speak.

"Here is where you prove if you're a man, or just a dirty, ugly whore that's of no use other than for a cheap, drunken, rough fucking. If we win today, each of you will get your weight in silver back in Tyrosh. For quite a few of you, that would be enough to buy your way to a better life, with, or without your brothers in arms. If ANY of you fall without putting-up a fight against those Windblown shits that Myr hired, I swear that I will spit on your corpse after this fight is done. Brothers, today we fight not just for silver, nor for the pretty girls and fine wines that often come with that kind of money, but we fight for our history! We fight for the legacies of ourselves! We fight for the legacies of our houses, especially those banished from our homeland of Westeros! We fight for Bittersteel! We fight to prove again why we're the best fucking company anywhere! Good as gold! GOOD AS GOLD!"

The men repeated after Captain-General Toyne until nobody could hear anything besides "Good as gold!" on the battlefield. The young man couldn't even hear himself shouting it, the Golden Company's words. He only knew he was saying the words because he could feel his chest heaving as he screamed. Then, the men around him, including his dear friend Ser Abe, began to charge and he knew that now it had begun.

The Younger Knight

This was a fight unlike any that Abe Dracarys had ever fought in, not that he'd fought in an astounding amount like Captain-General Myles "Blackheart" Toyne, Infantry Commander "Homeless" Harry Strickland, or Cavalry Commander Jon "Old Griff" Connington, but it was still rather remarkable. For the first time in his life, Abe was fighting in a battle that actually began at night. Granted, it was a fairly warm fall night under a strangely blood-red sky that would probably eventually let-up in favor of a Full Moon, but still, this was different. He didn't know what the Windblown were playing at by choosing to attack now. Their archers wouldn't be able to see enough to differentiate between their own cavalry charge and that of the Golden Company. Sure, they wore gold colored armor and the Windblown wore many colors, but that wouldn't matter much beneath the blood-red dusky sky.

"Alright, here we go, brace for impact!" Abe yelled to those around him.

Then, the battle commenced as the first of many men fell to arrows falling from the sky raining death from the archers of both the Golden Company and the Windblown. Fortunately, in the hazy blood-red sky post-sunset over these historically, and soon to be once more literally, bloodsoaked plains, it appeared that more of the men of the Windblown had fallen than his brothers. This gave Abe at least a little comfort. Afterall, there is no better commander of any company of archers anywhere than Black Balaq, the Deathrain of the Summer Isles. Abe thought to himself, "It's damn fortunate he signed with us when he fled his home, else I'd probably eventually die from an arrow loosed by an archer under his command.

Next, the cavalry in the vanguards of the two companies crashed together. At this point, the sounds of screaming – from both humans and horses alike – along with steel clanging together was deafening. He couldn't even hear his squire even though he was riding beside him. Once again, it looked as though his brothers were winning the fight as the unit he was a part of in the center continue to press forward.

"Brothers, keep pressing forward! We have the advantage for the moment, let's continue to press it until the Windblown are no more! FORWARD!"

Abe did not know if his brothers heard his words, but nonetheless they pressed forward, albeit at a slower pace now than just a moment ago. He could begin to see moonlight now and noticed that some Windblown had gotten through the ranks of the vanguard. Soon, his turn in the fighting would commence. He hoped his squire was up to the task of surviving this fight, for it was going to be a long night.

The Young Man

"Holy nutfucking motherfucking shit!" thought the young man as he rode beside his knight and best friend. "This definitely is the craziest shit I've ever been in! Whether death is here to greet me or not, I'm not backing down, I'm not going to be everything that many of my brothers here have said I am. I'm certainly not going to be what my gaolers back in my beautiful, but harsh country said I was. I am better than all of that. Even if my own father has turned his back on me, it's in my blood to be better than all of those petty and violent insults. Abe has made sure I learn this and have this skills to back it up. Now it's time for me to show the world." That's what the young man thought at least as he braced for the beginning of what would be not just the fight of his life, but a fight that nobody would soon forget.

Just before some of the Windblown got to him and his knight, his world began to crumble and his fortitude was tested. He saw his knight and friend Abe fall from his saddle. In fact, he saw his whole horse fall to the ground having taken an arrow right to the brain. The young man knew he had to act fast so that his knight would not be killed either by the Windblown or by his own brothers ferociously charging to meet them.

"Damnit Abe, I'm coming!" the young man said as he jumped from his steed to the freshly trampled and turned-up field.

"Mmmm. Mmmmmmmm! MM!" is what the young man heard as he got next to the center of Abe's bleeding, stinking, wicked dead horse.

With some great listening and quick thinking, the young man took his longsword and carved through his knight's dead horse. Careful not to stab too vigorously, the young man worked just quick enough to save his friend from asphyxiation or suffocation. He felt contact with armor after a moment and continued to cut in a circular pattern until he saw Abe's hip. Next, he cut a few large slashes through the horse's carcass until he saw enough of Abe to be able to pull him through the almost boiling-hot wreckage of a horse.

"Brother, you have just saved my life, thank you!" Abe said to his squire upon getting to his feet.

"We're not done yet brother, we still have much more fighting left tonight unfortunately."

"The Gods are with us tonight brother, let us dance to the song of the Warrior as we fight our way through this bloodbath until we see the Sun rise on a new, more peaceful day."

"Now, that was something tangible to fight for," thought the young man. It wasn't bags of silver that he'd never seen waiting in Tyrosh. It wasn't his mother and sister whom he'd hoped to see again soon, but hadn't seen since he was a boy. It was just something as simple as a Sunrise, but nonetheless a defiant symbol of beauty, hope, guidance, and an unbroken fortitude against seemingly impossible odds.


	3. Chapter 3: Something to Die For

Chapter 3: Unbroken Fortitude

The Young Man

As the night grew longer, so did the battle. This was by far the most ferocious, bloodiest, horrific battle the young man had ever taken part in. Even his knight and friend seemed to grow weary of the fighting as the night dragged-on. Impressively however, he was keeping pace with his knight. He wasn't killing as many men since it took him longer to duel each opponent, but he was always within sight of Abe, able to provide him help and cover as required throughout the battle. He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to keep-up this level of fighting, but he had to live through the battle. He needed to stave-off death just a bit longer because he needed to see the Sun rise on a more peaceful morning with his knight.

"Abe, this is madness, they just keep coming! We kill one and two more take their fallen brother's place. I don't know how we're going to put an end to this."

"We end this when they run away with their tails tucked between their legs as we scream our words in victory over these bloodsoaked, shit-stained plains!"

"You always have just the right thing to say, I hope you know that Abe."

"All I do is try. You're an easy audience and a great student, so I enjoy bantering with you. I'm also appreciative of you tonight as a squire. Most wouldn't have lasted this long, but you've fought admirably tonight."

"Damnit Abe, fucking keep killing those shits!" screamed Rae Sand. "Your squire is right, we still have so much to do, so many more men and a few women to kill. Your squire really has fought well tonight though, I'll certainly admit to that!"

The young man watched in admiration as Rae killed three Windblown soldiers with her spear while giving those words of praise. Rae was not like many of his other brothers and sisters in the Golden Company. Although she wasn't too close to him, she always had a smile for him, and occasionally words of praise. He'd never heard her praise his fighting though and took those words to heart. She was a great fighter, one of the best in the company actually, even better than Abe. For her to give him that kind of a compliment was beyond extraordinary. She didn't often give compliments about fighting, nevermind in a battle itself. She always seemed a bit off, trying to mask some sort of deep depression. He knew that because he'd felt a lot of those same feelings himself as he grew-up. He always wondered about her, if she had any family back in Westeros? Was there anyone she was fighting for? Probably not since she's both a bastard and a woman fighting in a sellsword company across the Narrow Sea.

The Younger Knight

There is no glory in war, no glory in fighting, only survival, and a naïve hope to never have to fight again. Sadly, there's always greed in the world and therefore bloodshed. It's better that it's here though rather than in city streets and on village farmland. It's better that it's trained killers rather than ordinary smallfolk, mothers, and children. That's what keeps Abe going as he fought through the night with his older squire.

"It has to be nearly sunrise by this point," thought Abe as he slashed through yet another Windblown soldier with his longsword.

He'd been fighting for so long that his sword grew heavy in his hand and his shield-arm was beginning to grow numb. He was more than weary of all this bloodshed, but had to continue. He had to see the Sun rise on a new day. He had to continue to live-up to his holy oaths taken as a knight to protect the weak, elderly, young, and women unable to protect themselves. He had to continue to try to put justice back into a world where there seemed by the day to lack more and more of it.

Finally, under the pale light of the Full Moon, it looked as though his brothers were breaking-down the Windblown to the point where they were falling-back. They could not withstand this assault much longer, Abe knew this. He knew that they would win soon, and that gave him great hope. That caused him to push harder, to swing his sword with a renewed strength, and to urge his brothers forward.

Then however, the unthinkable happened. His Captain-General, Myles "Blackheart" Toyne, fell. He was struck not just by one, but by four arrows, all alight with lit pitch, before falling from his enormous warhorse. His brothers and sisters then went into a panic, albeit a furious one, slashing and killing anything around them. In some cases, in the semi-darkness, a few of his brothers and sisters accidentally killed each other in the crazed, grief-stricken confusion. What happened next however stunned everyone even more than Blackheart's death.

"Abe, look, look-up, look in the vanguard," his squire said to him.

Now, that was a sight worth seeing. Melancholic, somewhat crazed Rae Sand lept atop Blackheart's great warhorse with her spear in hand and began to rally their brothers around her. Abe couldn't hear what she said, but whatever it was, it clearly put a sense of fight back into their brothers. They charged again, taking-back the ground lost when Blackheart fell all while screaming at a deafening roar, "FOR BLACKHEART! GOOD AS GOLD! FOR BLACKHEART! GOOD AS GOLD!" repeatedly while slashing-down their enemies with a renewed ferocity and sense of purpose.

"Abe, what is that?" his squire asked while pointing with his sword to the separating groups of Windblown company soldiers.

"I don't know to be honest. It doesn't make sense why they'd separate like that. I was hoping they'd actually be retreating by now," said Abe to his squire while disemboweling a rather young looking Windblown company soldier. The sky began to thin from a black with star and ample moonlight to a grey haze that comes just before a sunrise.

"Abe, I think those are barrels that they're dragging behind the horses."

"That's stupid, why would the Windblown drag barrels behind horses at us? The horses would be faster without the barrels. For that matter, why are they all running away from the horses? They should be trying to stay in a tight formation to better protect each other."

What happened next shocked Abe and everyone around him. The Windblown began a full sprint not in retreat, but sideways, putting themselves as far away from the horses charging down the center aisle they created. The riderless horses ran against and right through the Golden Company. It turned-out that his squire was right and that they did have barrels attached behind them, which Abe found rather odd. Next, flaming arrows rained-down upon not all of his brothers, but just the center where the riderless horses were just seconds before.

"ABE, GET DOWN, NOW!" yelled his squire as he pushed him with more strength than Abe thought he had.

Abe flew across the field, away from his squire as the flaming arrows hit men and the ground. The ground where Abe just was and where his squire continued to stand lit with a ferocious intensity. Abe had never seen a fire like this before. It wasn't just a brush-fire from dry and destroyed grass, but a deliberate and dangerous strategy. The barrels leaked oily pitch all across the plains while nobody noticed, except for perhaps his squire who continued to push many more of their brothers and a sister out of the path as a gigantic red-hot flame shot-up. His squire eventually jumped out of the way, but not before the edge of the flame could momentarily engulf the back of his armor, turning it an angry red color.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" his squire screamed as his armor burned, but still he pushed more of their brothers and sisters away until he passed-out.

"Brothers, help me! He may yet live and he saved all of you! Help me cool him and get his armor off, now!" Abe screamed to everyone around him. The men had to resort to using their weapons, in a few cases destroying them, to get the scalding armor off of his squire. The Windblown retreated after that horrific, deadly trick. The Golden Company may have won, but at tremendous cost. First, Captain-General "Blackheart" Toyne perished and now Abe's squire was badly wounded too.


	4. Chapter 4: Sunrise

Chapter 4: Sunrise

The Young Man

After a couple blinks of his eyes, everything still seemed rather hazy. He was unsure of where he was, why he was laying-down, and why the only sounds he could hear were men and a few women cheering and crying. Around him, he seemed to hear a bit of both the cheering and the crying actually.

"You crazy son of a bitch, you're awake!" Rae Sand said.

"R, rrr, Rae? Why are you hear, where's Abe? What happened?"

"I'm visiting as many of our wounded brothers and sisters as I can, all of the commanders are actually. As for Abe, he just went outside to take a piss. I told him he couldn't stand by your bedside until he pissed all over the ground. The maesters wouldn't take too kindly to that, now would they?"

"No, I suppose not…Abe!"

"My brother, I thought I'd lost you for a moment back there! Do you know what you did? You're a bloody fucking hero!"

"The last thing I remember was realizing that the Windblown were going to light the whole damn field on fire and I had to get you and everyone else out of the way."

"Well you dumb fucker, you did. You not only saved my life by pushing me out of the way of the fire that was about to begin, but you saved half a dozen other lives too. Thank the Gods you jumped when you did, otherwise you'd have been burnt alive in your armor."

"So, that's why my back feels like it's on fire…"

"Yes you piece of shit for a squire, that's good though! That means you'll be able to heal fully. The maesters said it would be good for you to feel pain."

"This really fucking hurts though…"

"I'll get a maester to give you some Milk of the Poppy. I'll be right back," said Rae Sand.

After a couple gulps of Milk of the Poppy and about half an hour more bedrest, the young man was back on his feet, albeit a bit intoxicated and unbalanced. He, as ordered to by Abe, got fully dressed, and proceeded to the gathering with the rest of his brothers and sisters that could make it. After every battle, they were addressed by the Captain-General and the various unit commanders that formed the leadership of the company. This was no different in structure, but vastly different in tone since the Captain-General died in battle along with a staggering amount of their brothers and sisters.

"As most of you probably already know," began Infantry Commander "Homeless" Harry Strickland, "Captain-General Toyne has died. Blackheart was a ferocious man with an aptitude and appetite for war that I quite frankly cannot match even in my wildest of dreams. He was a good man though, never forgetting where he came from. Not for a day did he ever forget that even though he was born from a noble house, he rose his way through our ranks from common infantry soldier to knight, to leading a platoon, to leading a unit, to becoming the youngest Captain-General in the history of our noble company after King Maelys of the House Blackfyre, first of his name, rightful ruler of the Andals, Rhoynar, and the First Men, Protector of the Realm, was slain in battle. It is today with great sadness that we shall add his skull to our banners, dipped in gold to preserve it for all eternity. Before we do this, first we must name a new Captain-General and honor with knighthood those that deserve it, which there are many after this battle. So, who shall step-forward to bestow this honor amongst a new brother worthy to join our ranks in anointment as knights?"

One-by-one, many of the surviving knights in the company stepped-forward to bestow knighthood on one of their brothers they deemed worthy. The night grew less hazy as this procession continued and day was on the verge of breaking forth. Eventually, after many other knights had stepped forward, the young man began to notice many of the eyes of his brothers and sisters upon him. He'd been told he'd done something quite brave back in the battle by not just his friend and the knight he squired for, Abe, but even by Rae Sand. Many others had given him – quite painful – pats on the back, shoulder, and head when they saw him for this gathering, but this was strange. Why was everyone looking at him? What he'd done was more a stroke of luck rather than skill. Nonetheless, he was happy to have saved the lives he did and was grateful for the praises he'd gotten thus far in this space between the end of night and the beginning of this new day. Then, not just Abe Dracarys, but Rae Sand stepped-forward together as the young man watched them walk to the front of their brothers and sisters.

Abe began to speak saying, "There are many among us who have earned knighthoods over the course of this past night. All of these men, our brothers, are deserving of admission into this fraternity. All have done deeds this past night to show their selflessness, willingness to protect those unable to protect themselves, and all will continue to live their lives in this manner not just today while the holy oils are still fresh upon their heads and their vows burning fresh in their minds and hearts. We are here, together, however to bestow this honor on one of our brothers that many of you have routinely put-down, doubted, and behaved barbarically towards. Rather than lash-out at you, he continued to stand unbowed, unbent, and unbroken by your abuses and rose to accomplish great feats of heroism. There are seven of us here today, including myself, that are alive due to him pushing us out of the way of the burning pitch released by the Windblown. He did this while prepared to sacrifice his own life in an ultimate act of selflessness. I saw this, many of you saw this too. Rae, if you'd please get the oils prepared, I'd like to call forth my squire."

Dumbfounded, the young man began to make his way to Abe and Rae at the front of the company. A million and one thoughts crossed through his mind, most of which were negative. He surely did not deserve this great honor. He'd done what anyone would have done in that situation, right? He just did what he thought was right, what he thought was just, and what he saw as his duty to his knight and his brothers in arms. Yet, here he was, being called forth to be knighted, it seemed not just by his knight and friend that he'd squired for these past six months, but with assistance in the ceremony from Rae Sand as well. That really made him doubt his worth of this honor. Nonetheless, he made his way to the front as his remaining brothers and sisters applauded voraciously for him. Now, this was a scene he'd never in his wildest of dreams thought possible, but it was happening.

"Draw your sword and kneel before me," Abe spoke in a commanding voice.

"Don't worry, you deserve this, Abe told me you'd be nervous, but you definitely deserve this. I wouldn't be helping with this if I didn't think so," said Rae in a sweet, comforting, almost sisterly voice."

Abe then drew his own sword and placed it on the young man's right shoulder while Rae picked-up vials of the seven holy oils. Together they both stood-up a bit straighter and took a deep breath. Then, Abe began to speak, not just going through the quicker version of the vows that most of the other knights gave to the newly knighted, but he began to go through the full vows.

"In the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave. In the name of the Father, I charge you to be just. In the name of the Mother, I charge you to defend the young and innocent. In the name of the Maiden, I charge you to protect all women. In the name of the Smith, I charge you to create peace where you go. In the name of the Crone, I charge you to bestow wise council unto those who seek it from you. In the name of the Stranger, I charge you to only end life when there is no other way to continue championing goodness. Do you accept these charges?"

"I do," spoke the young man.

"Please place each of the seven holy oils upon his head," spoke Abe as Rae began to anoint the young man in each oil. He looked at Rae as she put the oils upon his head and couldn't shake the feeling that she was looking at him the same way his sister used to all those years ago when she was proud of him. Daylight broke rapidly across the horizon and the members of the Golden Company began to chant in a thunderous chorus, "SUN RISE! SUN RISE! SUN RISE!"

"Arise no longer my squire, but as Ser Quentyn of House Martell, Prince of Dorne!"


End file.
